by Ben Phillips
My wife and I had a typical story. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other when we first got together. The sex was fantastic. I’d never found anyone with whom I was so physically compatible, and she felt the same way. Then, as everyone had warned me it would, things started petering off. Our passion was already diminishing by the time she got pregnant with our son, but after he was born, it was as if her desire had vanished completely.
It was uncomfortable in ways I didn’t expect, and I started freaking out. Sex had been so important for both of us, and it still was for me – but she was completely uninterested. There was no sign her libido would return. She felt guilty and also wondered if something might be wrong with her. I was panicked because I wasn’t getting the intimacy and affirmation I relied on. I turned to books, looking for answers, and fortunately, in one of them, I found a description of Orgasmic Meditation. The second I read about Orgasmic Meditation (OM), I was riveted. It resonated with me instantly. I had studied a lot of sexual techniques, but OM was clearly so much more than that. It was a different way of thinking about sex, the self, and the world.
The day after I started reading that book, I got laid off. It seemed like a sign of some sort. I sat down at my computer and started doing more research about OM online. My wife and I learned the technique by watching the online videos together, and it turned out to be something she wasn't sure she was interested in. She ended up giving me her blessing to explore OM on my own, with other partners, and a few years down the road, she ended up taking a months-long course related to OM on her own and developing a deeper relationship with the practice.
My first OM with someone other than my wife was nearly a decade ago, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. I remember trembling with anticipation, eager to see what was here for me in this practice. This new partner was kind and reassuring, and she gave me clear and comprehensible adjustments. I remember the heat coming off of her body and warming my finger, and as my finger grew warmer, I began to feel the heat in my chest and my stomach. We smiled at each other when it was over, and I felt this extraordinary sense of approval. It was a level of affirmation I’d never felt before. I’d been so ready for something to go wrong, and nothing had – quite the opposite.
Orgasmic Meditation has given me gifts that go far beyond what I was expecting.
I’ve always been fearful of women’s anger. It makes me want to hide or dive deep beneath the surface. I didn’t start OMing to deal with this fear, and yet, Orgasmic Meditation has completely transformed how I deal with other human beings in states of rage.
I was doing dishes in a communal space a couple of years ago. It was late morning, and I was blasting metal music as I worked, and others who walked through seemed to dig it. Quiet hours were over. Suddenly, a woman walks into the kitchen. She couldn’t take the music one second more and started screaming at me at the top of her lungs. I could feel the hairs on my neck blowing backwards from the intensity of her rage. It went on for several minutes, and I just stood there and let myself feel the sensations in my body. I didn’t apologize. I didn’t run away, and I didn’t try to soothe her. I just stayed there, looked her in the eye, and took it. Finally, she was done, and she turned on her heel and walked out of the kitchen.
A few hours later, that same woman came up to me. She didn’t come to apologize. She came to thank me for staying present with her the whole time she was raging. She conceded she’d been having a bad morning, but she remarked that most people were scared of her anger, even when it was obvious that it wasn’t about them. “Thank you for just standing there and being strong enough to hold all of that.” I almost laughed, and I almost told her how absurd it was for a guy like me to be able to withstand all of that. Instead, I just smiled and told her she was very welcome.
Just as I had an issue with anger, I had a real problem with saying no, especially to women. I had the worst people-pleasing habit. One day, this woman asked me to OM with her. She was a beautiful woman I’d long admired; she was as charismatic and smart as she was lovely. We knew each other slightly but had never OMed together. For whatever reason, I didn’t want to OM with her. I got a clear sense from somewhere inside that this wasn’t a good idea, and it wasn’t what I wanted. So, before I knew what I was saying, I calmly told her, “No, thank you.” She was stunned.
This was not the sort of woman who heard “no” very often. She yelled at me. I didn’t change my mind or lose my temper. I just repeated that I wasn’t interested at the moment, but I might feel differently another day. I wasn’t playing a game with her; it was how I felt – and for the first time, I could say exactly what I felt. We stared at each other for a minute, and then she smiled. “I can really, really respect that,” she said. “No one ever says no to me, and I probably need to hear it.” I nodded at her, and we both laughed. It felt so good to say “no” and have that “no” be respected.
Now, thanks to OM, when I say yes to something, the people in my life know that I mean it. I can stay with them, even with uncomfortable emotions. Orgasmic Meditation isn’t about a better sex life, though it may certainly lead you to one. It’s about getting to be a more truthful version of yourself.
